Conducted by Delaware-based management consulting firm ModernThink, the 2026 Great Colleges to Work program surveyed about 91,000 faculty and staff from 171 colleges in the United States. Some 76 institutions nationwide made this year’s list.

The program has 10 broad categories for recognition, of which Francis Marion received nine:

Francis Marion also made the list’s Honor Roll, placing it among 42 institutions that received the most recognition across the program’s various categories, according to a Sept. 18 statement from the University.

The other two SC schools making the grade were both from the Upstate: Anderson University and Lander University in Greenwood. From the program’s South East Region, comprising Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia — 33 schools ranked as Great Colleges to Work For.

FMU President Fred Carter said in the statement, “This is a fitting accolade for the people who make Francis Marion University a special community and fine place to work. Our recognition across these nine categories, along with another year on the Honor Roll, reflects the commitment this faculty and staff have to one another and to the students we teach.”

ModernThink’s consultancy focuses on workplace quality, organizational culture and employee engagement. The Great Colleges to Work For program “provides senior-level administrators and academic leaders with insights on the quality of the workplace experience for faculty and staff and the competitiveness of their policies and benefits,” according to ModernThink’s website.